The Surrendering Dragon?

Steve's combat instincts kicked in instantly.

An enemy attack? A companion of the aliens? Or some magic-wielding villain's new pet?

As he was still thinking, he saw the dragon's expression—panic, utterly undisguised panic.

Several scratches marked its scales. It limped as it ran, looking back every few steps as if fleeing from something.

When the dragon saw Steve raise his shield, it immediately stopped, lifted both front claws over its head, and struck a textbook surrender pose.

Steve: "..."

After all his years of war, this was the first time he had ever seen a dragon surrender.

Just then, a Chitauri soldier rushed out from around the corner and aimed his gun at the dragon's back.

The dragon clearly sensed the danger and darted aside, but it was still half a beat too slow. An energy beam grazed its hind leg and blasted a crater into the ground.

It let out a pained cry and rolled behind a taxi for cover.

Steve hesitated no longer. He hurled his shield, striking the Chitauri soldier's flying vehicle.

The vehicle spun out of control, slammed into a wall, and exploded. The soldier fell to the ground and lay still.

The shield flew back into his hand, and he hurried toward the taxi.

Behind it, the dragon was curled into a ball, licking the wound on its hind leg. When it noticed Steve approaching, it immediately raised its head, its whole body tensing as it assumed a defensive stance.

Steve stopped three meters away and lowered his shield to his side, showing that he meant no harm.

"Are you... a dragon?" Steve asked.

The dragon did not answer.

It stared at Steve for a while, then slowly relaxed. Its two front claws rose again as its body gradually bent and its head lowered, concealing the trace of anger in its eyes at having to bow to circumstances.

Steve did not notice the look in the dragon's eyes. He only found its surrender pose a little funny and nearly laughed.

This thing really wanted to make it clear that it was not a threat.

"Can you understand me?" he asked again.

The dragon nodded.

It nodded so hard, as if afraid he would miss it.

Steve frowned.

It could understand human speech, make a surrender gesture, and lick its wounds when injured.

Clearly, this was no ordinary beast. It possessed considerable intelligence.

But the question was, where had it come from?

The portal over New York had opened less than half an hour ago, and the Chitauri were slaughtering people across the city. If this dragon was with them, there was no reason for its own side to attack it.

If it was a local creature... since when had New York had dragons? Eastern dragons, no less?

Steve looked around.

The gunfire was getting closer. Another group of Chitauri was advancing in this direction, and he did not have time for a thorough interrogation.

"Will you come with me?"

Steve asked, "It isn't safe here."

The dragon froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

After nodding, it tried to stand, but the wound on its hind leg prevented it from moving normally, and it collapsed back down. It looked up at Steve, its eyes carrying a touch of embarrassment.

Steve sighed.

He walked over, crouched down, and examined the wound.

It was an energy weapon burn. The flesh was torn open, but the bone was unharmed.

Steve tore a strip from the nearby Chitauri soldier's clothing and gave it a simple bandage.

"Can you walk?"

The dragon tried to stand again. This time it steadied itself and nodded at Steve.

"Stay close."

Steve turned and ran toward the subway entrance. Behind him came the patter of footsteps.

The dragon limped after him, its gaze fixed on Steve the entire time, as though terrified of being left behind.

After running more than twenty meters, they encountered three more Chitauri soldiers ahead.

Steve raised his shield, preparing to fight, when he heard a strange sound behind him.

He turned around.

The dragon was squatting on the ground, clutching a trash can in its front claws and shoving it hard toward the Chitauri.

The trash can rolled swiftly forward and struck one soldier in the leg.

All three soldiers lowered their heads in unison to look at the trash can, then raised their heads in unison to look in the direction it had rolled from.

The dragon waved a claw at them.

"..."

The soldiers raised their guns.

Without the slightest hesitation, the dragon quickly ducked behind a car.

Seizing the opportunity, Steve charged forward, took down two of them in a few quick moves, and knocked the third unconscious with his shield.

The fight was over.

He dragged the dragon out from behind the car, his expression complicated.

The dragon blinked at him, looking innocent.

"Was that... you helping?" Steve asked.

The dragon nodded.

"With a trash can?"

The dragon continued nodding, its expression earnest, as if it genuinely thought it had been a good idea.

Steve fell silent for two seconds and decided not to pursue the subject.

"Let's go."

One man and one dragon continued running toward the subway entrance.

As they ran into the subway tunnel, Steve suddenly asked, "Do you have a name?"

The dragon paused.

Then it raised a front claw and began writing, stroke by stroke.

Steve watched it write.

It was two Chinese characters.

Steve did not know Chinese, but he could guess that it was a name.

"Is that your name?" he asked.

The dragon nodded.

"All right."

Steve said, "I'll call you Little Dragon for now."

The dragon did not respond immediately. He stared at the two characters, "Valmont," on the wall. That had been the name of one of his former subordinates, and he still remembered the man's groveling way of addressing him as Shendu.

He had already lowered himself, yet this foreigner before him still intended to casually call him Little Dragon.

Shendu raised a claw, then lowered it again. Circumstances were unusual; he could not kill this insect in front of him right away.

When Steve saw Shendu raise his claw, he merely took it as agreement.

Shendu followed the blond giant, and they proceeded without obstruction.

They encountered several groups of Chitauri along the way, all of whom Steve dispatched cleanly and efficiently. That shield was indeed useful—hard and capable of ricocheting. No wonder it was made of Vibranium.

When they reached a temporary shelter deep in the tunnel, more than a dozen civilians were huddled there.

When they saw Captain America, they visibly relaxed, but when they saw the dragon behind him, a fresh commotion broke out.

"Don't be afraid."

Steve reassured them. "It... probably isn't an enemy."

His tone was a little uncertain when he said it; after all, they had known each other for less than half an hour.

Shendu tactfully crouched in a corner, making himself as small as possible. He lowered his eyes and tried not to make eye contact with anyone.

Whenever someone secretly looked at him, he buried his head even lower.

"What is it doing?" a little boy asked.

"It seems... scared?" his mother said uncertainly.

Shendu sneered inwardly.

Scared?

He was only acting.

Still, Captain America really was a decent man.

His movements had been gentle when bandaging the wound. While running, he would occasionally look back to make sure Shendu was keeping up. Whenever danger appeared, he was the first to shield Shendu behind him.

No wonder so many people liked him in the original world.

Shendu leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep.

But his mind was racing.

Of the Twelve Talismans, only the Mouse Talisman had come with him.

He had no idea where the other eleven had scattered to.

They might be somewhere in this world, or they might not have come along at all.

He needed to establish a foothold first.

The Avengers would be a good place.

They had resources, connections, and access to all sorts of strange events.

One of those events might contain clues about the Talismans.

But before that, he needed to earn these people's trust.

Especially Captain America.

People overflowing with righteousness were the easiest to deceive, but also the hardest.

They were especially sensitive to evil. Once they discovered you were lying, they would never trust you again.

Shendu opened his eyes and glanced at Steve, who was comforting the civilians in the shelter.

He had to take it slow. First, he would play the part of "Little Dragon" well.

As for everything else, that could wait.